Yoon: "East Sea Oil and Gas Reserves Could Reach 14 Billion Barrels... Worth 5 Times Samsung Electronics' Market Cap"

First Government Briefing After Inauguration
"Commercial Development by 2035, Global Companies Express Interest"

President Yoon Suk-yeol is attending a national briefing held at the briefing room of the Yongsan Presidential Office building in Seoul on the morning of the 3rd, explaining about the oil and gas deposits in the East Sea. [Image source=Yonhap News]

President Yoon Suk-yeol announced on the 3rd that "physical survey results indicate a high possibility of a massive amount of oil and gas deposits in the offshore area of Yeongil Bay, Pohang, Gyeongbuk." The maximum potential reserves of the East Sea deep-sea oil and gas field are estimated to be around 14 billion barrels, which is equivalent to five times the current market capitalization of Samsung Electronics. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy expects construction to begin around 2027 or 2028, with commercial development starting around 2035.

During his first national briefing since taking office, held at the Yongsan Presidential Office that morning, President Yoon stated, "Recent results show a very high possibility of oil and gas deposits amounting to up to 14 billion barrels, and these findings have been verified by leading research institutions and experts."

This volume is more than 300 times the size of the East Sea gas field discovered in the late 1990s, and if used by the entire country, the natural gas could last up to 29 years and the oil up to 4 years. According to government estimates, one-quarter of the reserves are oil and three-quarters are gas. South Korea discovered the East Sea gas field with reserves of 45 million barrels in the late 1990s and completed commercial production by 2021, three years ago.

President Yoon explained, "In February last year, based on the judgment that there is a high possibility of more oil and gas fields around the East Sea gas field, we entrusted in-depth physical survey analysis to 'Actgeo,' a U.S. company specializing in world-class deep-sea technology evaluation," adding, "The exploration resource volume exceeds that of the Guyana block in South America, which is considered the largest oil development project of this century with 11 billion barrels."

The development of oil and gas fields proceeds in three stages: physical survey, exploratory drilling, and commercial development. Currently, the government is ready to move to the exploratory drilling stage to confirm the actual presence and scale of the oil and gas deposits.

President Yoon emphasized, "At least five drilling wells need to be drilled, with costs exceeding 100 billion won per well," and added, "The world's top energy development companies have already shown interest." Notably, top-tier resource development companies involved in analyzing and verifying the data have expressed their willingness to participate.

On the same day, President Yoon said, "I have approved the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's exploratory drilling plan, and after preliminary preparations, the first drilling operation will begin by the end of this year, with results expected by the first half of next year," urging, "I ask the public to calmly observe the drilling results."

The government expects actual exploration to begin in December this year. Considering that the potential deposit area is near major fishing grounds, the government plans to consult with relevant departments and local fishermen once the results are available in the first half of next year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.